Re: Ball State Preview and Game Thread -- 12-05-2018
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:41 am
On the bright side I actually love our freshman guards. Being excited about "development" sucks but it's the reality for the rest of our non-con.
There's way more pressure on our freshman and sophomores to produce this year than there was last year (I mean, that team had 5 fourth year players), but theres a lot to like.
-Krutwig's been a terror in the paint, outside of some unnecessary turnovers he's really a nightmare match up and you can't complain about his performance (honestly most of those TO's have come at times when he could probably muscle up a shot).
-Williamson looked to be taking his game to the next level before injuring his hand, really growing off the dribble and was becoming an exceptional passer (averaged 4 assists in his last 4 games), Richardson really became a fantastic passer by his senior year, but it didn't really start to show until he was a junior, Williamson is ahead of schedule.
-Kaifes has the swagger and confidence you need on offense, is growing on defense and also hasn't had too many freshman mistakes
-Bujdoso has quietly been one of our most efficient scorers at 58% (small-ish sample size, but he's been great at the rim), plays hard on defense, and like Kaifes hasn't had too many freshman mistakes
-Negron's flashed on offense some in limited time
-Frank's had some really nice defensive efforts in limited time
No matter what happens the rest of this year, it was always going to be a transitional year in the grand scheme as the left over leaders from the final 4 team were going to hand off the team to the next generation (Krut and Williamson will be likely have the keys for the next two seasons). Moving forward you want the young guys to learn how to win close games, not just compete in them. Yesterday we dug ourselves out of the hole, worked our way back to regain control, and seemed to let down and relax. Need to play the FULL 40. Gotta learn how to close out closer games.
There's way more pressure on our freshman and sophomores to produce this year than there was last year (I mean, that team had 5 fourth year players), but theres a lot to like.
-Krutwig's been a terror in the paint, outside of some unnecessary turnovers he's really a nightmare match up and you can't complain about his performance (honestly most of those TO's have come at times when he could probably muscle up a shot).
-Williamson looked to be taking his game to the next level before injuring his hand, really growing off the dribble and was becoming an exceptional passer (averaged 4 assists in his last 4 games), Richardson really became a fantastic passer by his senior year, but it didn't really start to show until he was a junior, Williamson is ahead of schedule.
-Kaifes has the swagger and confidence you need on offense, is growing on defense and also hasn't had too many freshman mistakes
-Bujdoso has quietly been one of our most efficient scorers at 58% (small-ish sample size, but he's been great at the rim), plays hard on defense, and like Kaifes hasn't had too many freshman mistakes
-Negron's flashed on offense some in limited time
-Frank's had some really nice defensive efforts in limited time
No matter what happens the rest of this year, it was always going to be a transitional year in the grand scheme as the left over leaders from the final 4 team were going to hand off the team to the next generation (Krut and Williamson will be likely have the keys for the next two seasons). Moving forward you want the young guys to learn how to win close games, not just compete in them. Yesterday we dug ourselves out of the hole, worked our way back to regain control, and seemed to let down and relax. Need to play the FULL 40. Gotta learn how to close out closer games.